In various modes of transportation, passenger seats may be placed behind a structure, such as another row of passenger seats, a bulkhead, a wall, or other structures (commonly referred to as “monuments”). During a minor crash landing, a passenger may be thrown forward so that the passenger's head and/or body strikes these structures due to inertial loads from the event. Typically, these structures are rigid in nature, so as not to provide any energy absorbing or deflecting features. As a result, passengers may experience injuries due to impact with these conventional structural designs.
Airbags have recently been included in the backs and/or seat belts of such seats and in monuments to prevent and/or minimize the degree of such injuries. In many cases, these airbags need to be connected to a control box for system maintenance. During the system maintenance, the battery status and the connection to the inflating mechanism are commonly checked. In most cases, each airbag must be checked individually, which is tedious and time consuming.
Recent developments with wireless communication provides a way to transfer information between the airbag system and a maintenance device. However, to operate properly, the wireless communication system requires external power to ensure data exchange for an extended period of time. It is also possible that the wireless communication system may interfere with aircraft control systems, which otherwise restrict use of wireless communication on aircrafts during flight.
Alternatively, radio-frequency identification labels are commonly used in many industries. Passive transceivers are powered and read at short ranges via magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction) generated by a radio-frequency identification reader. Typically, radio-frequency identification labels transmit mainly static information stored in the radio-frequency identification label without the need for external power. Recent developments in the field of radio-frequency identification now allow bi-directional data transmission between radio-frequency identification readers and transceivers. Also, non-static data, such as sensor signals, may be transferred to a radio-frequency identification reader and new information may be stored in the radio-frequency identification transceiver.
Thus, it may be desirable to provide an airbag control unit that utilizes radio-frequency identification communication to exchange static and dynamic information between a maintenance test unit and an airbag control unit to improve the speed and reliability of airbag system maintenance.